October Class Project #2

Here's the second project that we'll be making at my workshop this Sunday.
What the heck is it?

It's a clear calendar case that's been decorated on the outside. I picked up 20 of these while I was in Hawaii. The possibilities are endless with these, because unlike a standard CD case, there is no center insert. Just thick clear plastic that's begging to be altered.
To decorate the outside, I used SU's "Bella Rose" patterned paper and their new Halloween set called "Tasty Sweet".


For simplicity's sake, we'll be filling ours with candy this weekend, but just think of all the great things that you could put in here. Halloween party invitations, photographs, portable tic-tac-toe, Halloween recipes, card candy, crayons or colored pencils, paper dolls, etc...

October Class Project #1

Hi Kids! Happy Monday!
October will be here before you know it and I just LOVE Halloween. Not the trick-or-treating so much, but the decorations, parties, picture opportunities and goodies to make for friends.

I teach a class on the first Sunday of every month and it occurred to me this past weekend, that I have nothing planned yet. Eeek!

All day yesterday, I stayed in my pj's and watched football while I came up with three sample projects and prepped for my class.

Instead of three cards this month, I decided to make two goodie containers and one card. I figured that Halloween is more of a "goodie giving" holiday than a "card giving" holiday.

So without further ado....I'd like to introduce you to Frank!

What do you think? I hope the gals in class like him.
I'll have a photo tutorial for you later this week showing how I folded the box.

To make the face, I used three Stampin Up punches:
1" circle (Black and White for eyes)
1 3/8" circle (Kiwi Kiss for eyelids)
Round Tab Punch (Kiwi Kiss for nose and Black for bolts on neck)
It only took 4 glue dots and two staples to hold this baby together.
I attached the "hair" with Velcro so little Frank wouldn't need another lobotomy to get to the candy center.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another class spoiler!


FRANK RECIPE
CARDSTOCK: KIWI KISS, PALE PLUM (BRAYERED WITH ELEGANT EGGPLANT), BASIC BLACK, WHISPER WHITE
INK: OLD OLIVE (SPONGED ON FACIAL FEATURES)
MISC: BLACK MARKER

Another sketch challenge and a "bling" tutorial

I've been a stalker of Beate's blog for a little over a year now and love to check out her weekend sketch challenges. Sadly, I've never been able to play along - until now!

I couldn't sleep last night and decided to make something just for fun. Here's the sketch for this weekend. This layout was definitely a challenge for me. For those of you who know my work, you know that I love all of my layers, dimensionals and details.

Here's what I finally had finished at 4:21am
I knew right off, that I wanted to use this Whipper Snapper image that I just picked up at Little C's. Isn't it just the cutest!!
Whenever possible, I try to lay out the papers and embellishments on my cards before I adhere anything down. That way it's easy to make changes as needed.
I love this patterned paper from the "Figgy Pudding" collection by BasicGrey, but since I was only using one layer of it, I thought it needed a little *pop*.
Here's what I did to make my own "bling paper".
First, I covered the entire piece with Versamark ink.
Then I applied SU's Heat & Stick powder and activated it with my heat tool just until it became shiny.
While the Heat & Stick powder was still hot, I sprinkled on some Dazzling Diamonds and then set it with my heat tool.

Here's what the finished pieces look like - much better don't you think?
After I got the background all figured out, I was ready to embellish my colored image. I decided to use two shades of pink Crushed Velvet Flocking by Doodlebug Designs for the hat and scarf. Oh..and what winter hat would be complete without a big poof ball on the end? I used my white liquid applique for that.
Here's a better shot of the detail on the penguin.
These are the Copics that I used.
Thanks for visiting! I hope the mini tutorial was helpful.
Hugs,

Ready for some Saturday inspiration?

That's right kids! It's Saturday and that means a new sketch from Lauren!
While I was in Oahu, I met a gal who is as crazy as I am about stamps. Can you imagine? The whole front room of her home is a mini stamp store!! My sister-in-law and I thought we died and went to heaven. My husband was even impressed!

Her name is Jen and she calls her place "Little C's". What a sweetheart she was! We talked "stamp talk" and shopped while her adorable puppy Caesar licked our toes. Not only does she have a stamp store in her house, but she's got a blog and a website to take orders from anywhere! Definitely go check it out when you get a chance.

This is one of the Whipper Snapper images that I picked up while I was there.
I had no reason to buy him, but he was just soooo cute and I couldn't resist! For the sketch challenge today, I decided to use him to make a shaker card.Here's a close up of all the yummy beads inside.
And these are the Copics that I used to color him in.
CARD RECIPE:
CARDSTOCK - BASIC BLACK, PUMPKIN PIE, WHISPER WHITE
PATTERNED PAPER - SU'S BALI BREEZE
MISC - SU'S PUMPKIN PIE STRIPED RIBBON, STICKLES, HEMP TWINE
STAMPS - WHIPPER SNAPPER, SENTIMENT BY STAMPIN UP

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team gals did!
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria & Tamara

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'll be back Monday.

Hugs,

Fool Your Family Friday

This is my 2nd post for today, so be sure to scroll down and check out my barf bag makeovers!

Welcome to another edition of Fool Your Family Friday!

Today's recipe is
HOMEMADE KETCHUP

Every kid loves ketchup right? My son would drink it through a straw if I'd let him!

Here's what you'll need:

1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)

1/2 cup carrot puree

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste

Stir all ingredients together in a big saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce heat and simmer until the mixture has reduced by about half (15-20 minnutes).

Let cool before serving and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.


This ketchup goes great with this recipe.

Be sure to come by tomorrow to get a peek at Lauren's new sketch!

A barf bag...no wait...it's a gift bag

Okay, well yes....technically they're all still barf bags. They're just a little prettier now. How do you entertain two kids on a long airplane ride?
Well in my family, we collect barf bags from everyone's seats and draw on them to create puppets. Then we have a barf bag puppet show! Don't worry....you're not alone...everyone else on the plane thinks we're "special" too!

While I was playing with my barf bag owl puppet during our flight home, I noticed the adhesive strip along the back. It got my little scramper mind going....
I decided to bring home some of the extra bags that we, ehem....borrowed from Hawaiian Airlines, and turn them into gift bags for the souvenirs that we brought back for some of our friends.

Are you grossed out yet? Hope not :-)


I used my SU "Do The Hula" set for all of the bags below.

Here's what I came up with for
Barf Bag Extreme Makeover #1
Barf Bag Extreme Makeover #2
For this one I used re-inkers and a baby wipe to create my own ink pad to make the tye-dye shirts.
Barf Bag Extreme Makeover #3
Here's a mini tutorial on how I made the ribbon bow for the bag above.

First I punched two holes with my Crop-A-Dile and fed one end of ribbon through each hole.
Now turn the bag around - this is what it will look like.
Next, take the RIGHT end of ribbon and pull it back through the LEFT hole to the front.
Repeat with the LEFT end of ribbon through the RIGHT hole.
Now turn the bag back around and this is what the front will look like.


On another note...did any of you watch the Survivor premiere last night? My husband and I are HUGE Survivor fans and we've even got the kids looking forward to Thursday nights now too. I always find it very amusing that some of the contestants are already down to their bras and underwear on the first day. What's that all about?!

Anyways, hope you liked the projects I made and that the mini tutorial was helpful.
Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back later with a Fool Your Family Friday recipe.
Hugs,

I'm baaaack!

Eight....count em' eight SCREAMING babies on the 5 hour flight home from Hawaii last night! And the best part? All eight of them (yes eight!) were in the five rows next to and in front of me.

No worries! I was able to tune them right out!

Sooo nice to be home.
Thank you all for your sweet e-mails and comments while I was away! I'll be back tomorrow with stampin' stuff.

Turtle in a wagon? - Scheduled Post #15

I paired up several stamps for this one. The turtle image is by Inkadinkado, the wagon is from SU's "The Wheel Thing" and the sentiment is by Amuse.

The yummy patterned paper is by BasicGrey. It seems like every paper I reach for these days is by BasicGrey.

I'll be back from Hawaii tomorrow. Guess it's back to reality for me... I hope you've enjoyed the last 16 days of pre-scheduled posts. And I hope even more that they all went up like they were supposed to!
Thanks for popping by today. I'll be back "live" tomorrow. Aloha!

Gingerbread boy - Scheduled Post #14

This was a quick little make and take that was at an SU demonstrator meeting a few weeks ago.

I really liked this earthy color combo along with the "Deer Friends" hostess set.

I feel the holidays creeping up on me...

Golf Congrats - Scheduled Post #13

Made this card for a MAJOR golf lover I know. Isn't this image from House Mouse adorable?

I stamped the main image onto SU Kraft cardstock, colored in with my Copics and cut it out.
I stamped the golf ball separately onto Whisper White cardstock, clear embossed it and then popped it up on dimensionals for a little extra *pop*.
Hugs,